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Saskatoon Blades

Crnkovic & De La Gorgendiere Named to Team Canada's U17 Roster

October 16, 2018 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


Saskatoon, Sask. - Two members of the Saskatoon Blades have been named to Hockey Canada's 66 player roster for the upcoming World U17 Challenge in November. Forward Kyle Crnkovic and defenceman Aidan De La Gorgendiere are among 17 Western Hockey League players selected to represent Team Canada in New Brunswick in November.

Both De La Gorgendiere and Crnkovic are in their rookie seasons in the WHL after being selected 5th and 10th overall in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft. De La Gorgendiere has played in all 10 games this season for Saskatoon registering 1 assist, 2 penalty minutes, and a +2 rating. Crnkovic suffered an injury in training camp but is listed as day-to-day and is expected to suit up for the Blades before joining Team Canada at the end of October.

Last season Crnkovic scored 36 goals and 64 points in 30 games for Northern Alberta Xtreme's midget prep team of the CSSHL and added another 12 points in 5 games in the post-season en route to a league championship. Crnkovic was also the leading scorer at the 2017 WHL Cup last year.

De La Gorgendiere played last season with Yale Academy's midget prep team, scoring 17 points and 38 PIM in 19 games. He was also a member of the WHL Cup champions, Team British Columbia, in 2017.

As for the tournament itself, Canada will be split into three teams- Canada Black, Canada Red, and Canada White- and will complete against national teams from Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, and the United States.

Crnkovic and De La Gorgendiere will be surrounded by familiar faces from the Blades as Associate General Manager Steve Hildebrand will be back at the tournament serving as Director of Operations for Canada White. Blades' Equipment Manager Chad Scharff will be doing his second shift at the World U17 Challenge with Canada Black, and Saskatoon's Mental Performance Coach Josh Hoetmer will also be donning the maple leaf with Canada Black.

This year's tournament takes place in Saint John and Quispamsis, New Brunswick. Crnkovic and De La Gorgendiere will depart on October 29th with the tournament getting underway on November 3rd and running until November 10th.

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